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Category Archives: Shopping

If you are looking for cheap and decent items for Christmas or New Year’s eve, Geryes Bou Naoum is the place to go! I found out about this place three years ago and since then I’ve been going yearly specially for New Year. The confetti for example is ALWAYS cheaper than what you find in supermarkets or shops and there’s a large variety of almost everything. Bou Naoum is a wholesaler that is located in Jal el Dib near Odeon theater and McDonald’s; the easiest way is to take the main highway and take your first right after O&C Supermarket, once you reach the inside Jal el Dib Zalk road, go right and then take your first left after Odeon theater. Drive for 200 meters then you will see a small road that takes you to a huge hangar. It’s usually crowded around Christmas and New Year so try to park in the nearby parking lot or on the main street and walk up.

Don’t expect to see a nice shop as Bou Naoum is a wholesaler and the place is like a huge bazaar. The staff however is very friendly and helpful and it’s very easy to get discounts on almost everything.

Bidaffairs is a website that was launched recently in Lebanon with two live auctions, one on an Yves Saint Laurent bag and another on an iPhone 6. The first two auctions were private and only few people, including myself, received 15 bids to participate. I wasn’t familiar with the whole bidding process to be honest but I went through the tutorial and understood how things work. Basically people start bidding on a product when there’s less than 30 seconds left, and whenever the timer is close to zero and someone bids, 15 additional seconds are added. Since we only had 15 bids and we weren’t allowed yet to buy any additional ones, it was all a matter of not wasting your bids and trying to wait till the last second every time to bid over the others.

I don’t know how I ended up being the last bidder as I had wasted four bids by mistake but it worked and I got myself an iPhone 6 for $1.2. At first I thought it was too good to be true but I did get a call from the guys behind bidaffairs and they delivered the phone two days later.

The website is now officially launched and there are five auctions ending this week including one for another iPhone 6. You are now allowed to buy bids but if you are interested in joining and trying it out, ten of you can use the BlogBaladi code to get 20 free bids.

I love figurines, specially the ones that are meticulously crafted and contain a lot of details, so you can imagine how excited I was while unwrapping my “Mr Barbecue” figurine by Guillermo Forchino that Virgin sent me as a gift. Forchino is an Argentinian artist born to Italian parents who creates comic sculptures with a lighthearted sense of fun and color. He has quite a large collection that includes boats, planes, motorcycles and cars and he has created in recent years a line of individuals in sports and a variety of professions that was named the “ Professionals Series”. The figurine I got is shown below and is almost 45cm long. As you can see, the details are amazing and the whole thing is just beautiful.

“A good barbecue is hard to do!” explained Freddy to his two kids who listened mesmerized. “First, is to start the charcoal. Then the grill is heated so it can be easily cleaned.” The kids, charmed by the master chef, listened attentively. “Then, gently place the pieces of meat and sausage on the grill. Finally, and this is the most important, patiently wait for the exact moment when the meat is perfectly cooked, and then….there is nothing left to do, but to enjoy yourself!”

Price-wise, the figurines are quite affordable as the most expensive one costs around $280 which is a very reasonable price considering the amount of work and the size and weight of the object. The one I got costs around $235 but you can find smaller items that start at around 100 or $150. I am already considering buying my parents one of them as a Christmas gift and getting myself the F1 car.

For those of you who don’t know what Black Friday is, it’s the Friday following Thanksgiving day in the United States and the busiest shopping day of the year. All major retailers in the US offer crazy discounts and promotional sales to kick off the holiday shopping season. My brother is in the US so every year, I look up Black Friday deals and try to take advantage of all the offers and there are some really amazing deals!

Going back to Lebanon, Khoury Home is apparently organizing a Black Friday this week but they didn’t confirm it yet. Given how bad our economy is, a Black Friday would be a perfect boost to all retailers before the shopping season. I hope they consider doing it on a bigger scale and on a yearly basis.

I don’t know how many of you are familiar with My Luxury Outlet, but I know a lot of girls (and very few guys) who wait for this special sale week to go and buy stuff there. The only reason why I know about this shop is because it’s located on the Mar Nicolas stairs and every time I go to Gemmayze I see it. MLO is part of the Holdal Abou Adal group and is a multi-brand outlet store that sells luxury brands such as Lancel, Longchamp, Fratelli Rossetti, Kipling, S.T.Dupont and others. A friend was telling me yesterday how people go crazy over these sales and that once she saw a couple of ladies fighting over a bag.

I love S.T. Dupont wallets and I currently carry one, so I might as well pass by and see if I can find a new one at a good price. Maybe if I am lucky, a couple of customers will fight over a bag and I will film the whole thing haha!

Style.com (Arabia) featured the Mukhi Sisters as one of the top 5 Middle Eastern Jewelry Designers. I don’t know much about jewelry but I’ve met the Mukhi sisters on several occasions and appreciate their work and designs. One more reason why I like them is that their designs would fit perfectly on some Game of Thrones characters and I am a huge GOT fan.

Using gold, diamonds, as well as other precious and semi-precious stones, they draw on their personalities, interests and obsessions to create high-end pieces. You can describe a Mukhi Sisters piece as a statement of individuality. Some of their favorite statement and signature collections are the ones that Mukhi clients tell them are conversation pieces. Their jewelry, at once whimsical and original, conveys things both about the 3 Mukhis -Maya, Meena and Zeenat- and about the women (and lately men) who wear their designs.
Jewelry runs in the Mukhi family genes: their mother is Effat Kreidie, the creative force behind Effy’s Jewelry. Their father, Chandru Mukhi, comes from a long line of Indian jewelers in the industry since 1875. Born into a world of dazzle and sparkle, Maya, Meena and Zeenat were on intimate terms with fine gems and jewelry from an early age. With such a rich heritage, the sisters began collaborating on their own brand.

A lot of people have been asking me about Forever 21 and when it is set to open at City Centre Beirut. Well unfortunately it won’t be opening before mid January 2015 as I was told. I tried to ask about the Cheese Cake Factory since it interests me more than a retail shop but there’s not a set date yet.

American fashion brand Michael Kors hosted a party Tuesday night for the opening of its first store in Lebanon. Dozens of women wandered through the shop at the opening event, ogling walls of the brand’s popular solid-color handbags – or carrying their own – and eyeing cases of watches and eyewear.

Michael Kors, who built the iconic, eponymous company selling men’s and women’s ready-to-wear and accessories, called Lebanon the perfect choice for a new store. [DailyStar]